The Green Building Council of Australia
(GBCA) is proudly leading the green
building industry’s most ambitious
undertaking: Green Star – Performance.
Green Star – Performance will revolutionise green building
operations in Australia.
Since the GBCA launched the first Green Star rating tool for
offices in 2003, we have focused on the design and construction
of new and refurbished buildings – just a fraction of the market.
Now we’re tackling the far greater challenge of ‘greening’ our
existing building stock. Green Star – Performance will establish
best practice benchmarks for the operations of a range of
building types, and for buildings with or without Green Star
Design & As Built ratings.
This document outlines the proven benefits and business case
for using Green Star – Performance and green building in
general, and offers insights into how the Green Star categories
will be addressed in this ground-breaking new rating tool.

Green Star – Performance is
comprehensive
The rating tool won’t just be limited to offices. Green
Star – Performance will also be applicable to schools,
universities, shopping centres and industrial facilities,
and will be used to identify areas for incremental
improvement. In the future, Green Star – Performance
will be able to assess many other building uses.

Green Star – Performance is
inclusive
Green Star – Performance ratings will be available for
buildings with and without Green Star Design & As
Built ratings. Green Star – Performance will ‘close the
loop’ on the design, construction and management
of Green Star-rated buildings, and provide third-party
certification of the environmental achievements of
buildings in operation.

Green Star – Performance is
easy to use
In a first for Green Star, this rating tool will be
accessed via a simple and easy to use online format.
Assessments will be quick and easy, so gaining a
Green Star – Performance rating will be a cost-effective
and efficient process.

Green Star – Performance is
robust
Our development approach to Green Star –
Performance has involved more collaboration with
industry than ever before, which we’re confident will
lead to a market-leading, robust tool.

Green Star – Performance is
revolutionary
The US Green Building Council’s rating tool for Existing
Buildings’ Operations and Maintenance, LEED-EBOM,
drove more certifications in one year than all the other
LEED tools have done in their history. We expect
Green Star – Performance to have the same impact
in Australia, and encourage Australia’s property and
construction industry to get behind this exciting and
innovative project.

The business case for
green building operations
Introduction
Buildings are the single largest contributor to
the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, using
40 per cent of global energy and generating
around 30 per cent of all carbon emissions.1 In
Australia, commercial and residential buildings
alone contribute 23 per cent of Australia’s total
greenhouse gas emissions.2

And that’s just offices. Australia also has around
9,500 schools and universities, 1,300 hospitals, 1,300
shopping centres, as well as countless square metres
of other buildings such as libraries, law courts, town
halls and industrial facilities. The vast majority of these
buildings perform well below our current best practice
environmental benchmarks.

It’s no stretch to see that our buildings need to be
part of the solution to climate change. Of course,
a building’s impact is not limited to its energy
consumption. Commuting patterns of occupants,
the use and consumption of goods and materials,
waste production and water use are all ways in which
buildings can adversely affect our planet and
its resources.

Measurement is the first step towards better
environmental management of our buildings. The
Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) is currently
developing the Green Star – Performance rating tool
to assess the ongoing operational performance of
buildings across many building types.

While the last few years has seen a ‘green gold rush’ of
new buildings designed and constructed to the highest
environmental standards, new construction accounts
for only two per cent of our building stock.
Consider this: of Australia’s 21 million square metres
of existing office stock, 81 per cent is over ten years of
age, equalling more that 17.5 million square metres.3
Most of these buildings are ‘brown’ buildings – not
the green buildings we need. Many were constructed
between 1960 and 1980 for as little money as possible,
and with little thought given to issues such as
energy efficiency.

Of Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 21
million square
metres of existing
office stock, 81
per cent is over
ten years of age,
equalling more than
17.5 million square
metres.

“Green Star – Performance
could be a major catalyst
for change in the property
and facilities management
industry. The focus on
ongoing performance will
drive decisions based on
value and not just cost.”
Jon McCormick, Managing Director, Brookfield Multiplex Services

Benefits for building
owners and operators
A better performing building delivers a number
of direct economic benefits to building owners.
Increased economic benefits are the prime drivers
of change for most building upgrades, which
include reduced operating costs, higher rents,
greater occupancy, and higher resale value.
Green Star – Performance will enable building owners to
compare their buildings’ holistic performance with other
buildings of similar use, and set targets to increase energy
and water efficiency, reduce waste and improve factors
that influence productivity, health and learning, such as
indoor environment quality.

8

Green Star – Performance Business Case

The 5 Star Green Star – Retail Centre Design v1
refurbishment of Westfield Sydney made it the
largest fully-rated Green Star retail centre in Australia.
The centre was designed to reduce potable water
consumption by 80 per cent and greenhouse gas
emissions by 35 per cent when compared to an
average retail centre of equivalent size. With a Green
Star – Performance rating, the facilities management
team at Westfield Sydney will be able to verify that the
centre is operating to its design potential.

Higher returns
Green Star-rated buildings deliver consistently
higher returns on investment than their non-green
counterparts.
The Building Better Returns report, published by
the Australian Property Institute and Property Funds
Association, found that Green Star-rated buildings are
delivering a 12 per cent ‘green premium’ in value and a
five per cent premium in rent, when compared to nonrated buildings.4
Similarly, the IPD Green Investment Index, developed
in conjunction with the Property Council of Australia,
indicates that in the two years to March 2011, Green
Star-rated office buildings outperformed non-rated
buildings.5 4 Star Green Star-rated buildings (signifying
‘Best Practice’) delivered a 10.8 per cent return over
the two years to March, compared with a 4 per cent
return for non-rated buildings. Capitalisation rates were
on average around 30 basis points lower than nonrated buildings. According to IPD’s Research Manager,
Peter McGuinness: “Lower cap rates are consistent
with capital value stability and indicate that Green Starrated assets have less investment risk.”

Energy costs can represent up to 35 per cent of a
typical building’s operating costs and are subject
to rate fluctuation beyond the control of most
buildings’ management.7 Retrocommissioning is a
structured way to examine potential energy savings
and to efficiently upgrade a building’s environmental
performance rating. A survey from the US in 2008
found that retrocommissioning typically yields up
to 10 per cent annual energy savings.8 Buildings
that have undergone retrocommissioning tend to
be much easier to operate and maintain. Benefits
include extended equipment life, greater thermal
comfort, and improved indoor air quality.

Reduced operating costs
With energy costs rising steadily, energy-efficient
buildings make good business sense. Without
significant capital costs, green buildings can save
on energy operating costs for years to come.
An US report, Assessing Green Building Performance,
found that green buildings consume 26 per cent less
energy than average buildings and generate 33 per
cent less greenhouse gas emissions.6
Innova21, the University of Adelaide’s Faculty of
Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences
building, was the first project in Australia to achieve a
6 Star Green Star – Education Design v1 rating. The
use of geothermal energy storage is expected reduce
the building’s cooling-related CO2 emissions by 58 per
cent, while the natural gas-fired tri-generation plant which supplies all of Innova21’s electricity, heating and
cooling requirements – is predicted to deliver a 60.3
per cent reduction in peak electrical demand. With
a Green Star – Performance rating, the University of
Adelaide will be able to confirm that their 6 Star Green
Star certified design translates into 6 Star Green Star
certified performance.

“Closing the gap between
Green Star Design and As
Built is essential for the
industry to ensure that green
designs are translating into
better performing buildings
for owners, users and the
community. Green Star –
Performance will do just that.”
Sean McMahon, Executive General Manager –
Commercial and Industrial, Australand

Attractive to tenants and buyers

Tax benefits and incentives

Greener buildings attract prospective tenants
and buyers, and help retain existing tenants –
reducing risk and increasing building value into
the bargain.

The federal government, as well as some state
and local governments, are offering a range
of incentives for green building, including
investment assistance, rate reductions for
certified green buildings, and sustainable
development grants.

The GBCA’s Valuing Green report found that green
buildings attract better quality tenants, such as
government and ‘top tier’ corporates with stable
businesses and strong commitments to corporate
social responsibility.9
Colliers International’s 2012 Tenant Sentiment Survey
found that 95 per cent of tenants want to be in a
green building, up from 75 per cent two years earlier.
This evidence is backed up by Jones Lang LaSalle’s
Global Corporate Occupier Sustainability Report, which
found that, of the 143 top-level corporate real estate
leaders surveyed internationally, 92 per cent consider
sustainability criteria when making their location
decisions. And interestingly, just under half of the
respondents said they would pay up to a 10 per cent
premium for sustainable office space.10

Westfield Sydney Retail Podium - 5 Star Green Star - Retail Design v1

12

Green Star – Performance Business Case

Non-financial incentives include green planning
reconsiderations and green education programs.
The GBCA website includes a full database of
government incentives, programs and schemes
currently in use.

Regulation and mandatory
disclosure
Financial and non-financial incentives
complement other government regulations such
as the Commercial Building Disclosure scheme,
which aims to improve the energy efficiency of
Australia’s large office buildings by ensuring
tenants and buyers have credible information on
energy performance.
Building owners and lessors are required to disclose an
up-to-date Building Energy Efficiency Certificate (BEEC)
when they sell, lease or sub-lease office space of more
than 2,000 square metres. Disclosing this certificate
provides everyone with access to the same consistent
and meaningful information about a building’s
performance, making it easier for companies to buy or
rent more efficient office space. Also, these measures
create strong market-based incentives for owners to
improve their properties with cost-effective energyefficient upgrades, increasing return on investment.
Governments and large corporate organisations
are increasingly incorporating green principles into
their property requirements, and a number of state
governments have already mandated minimum Green
Star benchmarks for all government office buildings –
with other building types expected to follow suit. By
incorporating sustainable features now, building owners
are ‘future-proofing’ for changes in the regulatory
environment, and ensuring they will not be at a
disadvantage in the future. What’s more, by integrating
Green Star principles into their buildings, they are
leaving the community with a lasting legacy.

Risk mitigation
Green buildings with lower operating costs
and better indoor environmental quality
are inherently more attractive to a growing
group of corporations and consumers. Green
features will increasingly enter into companies’
decisions about leasing space and consumers’
decisions about purchasing properties. There
is also growing evidence of greater returns on
investment for Green Star-rated buildings.
Daniel Grollo, Chief Executive of Australia’s largest
privately-owned development, funds management and
construction company, Grocon, has said that it is now
a “liability to have too few Green Stars.”11 Similarly, the
Property Council of Australia’s Chief Executive, Peter
Verwer, said in 2011 that “the industry already knows it:
sustainable design and management of office buildings
has become part of core business.”12
Certifying a property using Green Star – Performance
can make an older building more competitive with
the many new Green Star-certified buildings being
designed and built, helping to mitigate the risk of
obsolescence in older properties.
The City of Gosnells has achieved a 5 Star Green Star
– Office Design v2 rating for the retrofit of its offices
near Perth. The sustainable transformation means the
building is now ‘future-proofed’ to withstand tighter
environmental legislation and the introduction of carbon
reporting requirements. The Council expects a five
year payback period on the extra outlay of $750,000
demonstrating that building green is a smart financial
decision. As Paul McAllister, Project Manager, City of
Gosnells, explains: “We have a commitment of fiscal
responsibility to our ratepayers. That’s why we decided
to build green.”

Stakeholder relations
Most people appreciate a demonstrated
concern for their welfare, as well as for the
planet. Progressive building owners realise
how to market these benefits to a discerning
client base – whether that person is an office
employee, a public housing tenant, a nurse, a
teacher or a student.
The Lilyfield Housing Redevelopment in Sydney
achieved a 5 Star Green Star – Multi Unit Residential
PILOT rating in 2009. Housing NSW invested in
environmentally sustainable initiatives such as gasboosted solar hot water systems, 267 square metres
of solar panels and a 4 kilowatt photovoltaic system
to power common area lighting. The gas-boosted
hot water system caters for 60 per cent of hot water
consumption and delivers annual savings of $19,000
- or $213 per unit. Housing NSW’s commitment to
sustainability is supporting low-income households
to reduce their annual electricity bills in the building
by 25 per cent. Green Star – Performance will
help governments to assess the environmental
sustainability of their entire housing portfolios before
they embark on renovation programs.
Green building operations can also offer a solution
to the misalignment of cost and benefit between
owners and those leasing or renting a building,
since there are benefits to both parties, as well as
the environment. Reductions in operating costs and
increases in tenant satisfaction can lead to increased
rates of lease renewal and eventually higher returns.

Brand equity
A strong commitment to sustainability and a
growing portfolio of green projects may help to
enhance developers’ and owners’ credibility in
the marketplace.
Green Star – Performance presents a golden
opportunity to reposition older properties as more
upscale or ‘trend setting’. Establishing and improving
the environmental performance of older properties
could be an essential element in rebranding and
repositioning them to be more attractive to people
looking for green office space, retail tenancies or
other public buildings.

Benefits for people
While green buildings are a
smart investment, they also
deliver a wide range of benefits
for people, from improved
health and education outcomes
through to increased workplace
productivity.

18

Green Star â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Performance Business Case

Productivity gains
In an office environment, natural light, fresh air and access to views of the
outdoors, as well as control over individual workspace temperature and
lighting, can affect productivity directly. Staff costs are by far the greatest
business expense in most organisations and a slight increase in productivity
will quickly pay for the small premium on a green space. Buildings using
Green Star – Performance to assess, and then improve, indoor environment
quality (IEQ) may provide important benefits for a building occupant or
prospective tenant.
The Victorian Building and Plumbing Industry Commission’s 2011 productivity study,
conducted by Allens Consulting Group, modelled the impact of different increases in
productivity levels arising from improved IEQ on the businesses occupying the 1,800
commercial offices within the City of Melbourne. For an initial outlay of $1.9 billion to
retrofit all the offices, the results would be:

Productivity gain

Annual productivity payback

Payback period

2%

$223 million per year

8.8 years

5%

$557 million per year

3.5 years

10%

$1.1 billion per year

1.8 years

Carnegie Mellon University reported median productivity gains from high-performance
lighting retrofits of 3.2 per cent, or about US$1-2 per square foot per year, an amount
equal to about half the cost of energy.13 These savings are in addition to a reported
average saving of 18 per cent on total energy bills from more efficient and effective
lighting.
Trevor Pearcey House in Canberra was awarded a 6 Star Green Star – Office Design v2
rating in 2007 for what was then a ground-breaking retrofit, undertaken by Australian
Ethical Investments (AEI). Since then, AEI has conducted an internal survey of staff
perceptions, which reported a 6.2 per cent increase in productivity. AEI’s Director,
Howard Pender, estimates this small productivity improvement adds up to a big benefit:
around $1.5 million of extra value over the past five years.
Researchers in 2009 surveyed 534 tenants in 154 LEED or Energy Star buildings and
found increased productivity and reduced absenteeism.14 Average productivity increased
by nearly five per cent, and absenteeism decreased by nearly three days per year.
Total value of the increased productivity and decreased absenteeism was estimated at
US$25.73 per square foot.15
And productivity benefits are not limited to offices. Green schools and universities
have been found to deliver a 41.5 per cent improvement in the health of students and
teachers, as well as a 15 per cent improvement in student learning and a 25 per cent
improvement on test scores due to good lighting and ventilation.16

Health improvements
A major element of productivity is healthy workers –
whether that’s a teacher in the classroom, a nurse in the
emergency room or a factory worker in an industrial facility.
Where building owners have taken measures to improve
indoor environment quality, such as increased ventilation,
daylighting, views to the outdoors, and low-toxicity finishes
and furniture, workers show an average reduction in illness
symptoms of 41.5 per cent on an annual basis, according to
17 academic studies reviewed by researchers at Carnegie
Mellon University.17
The green refurbishment of 500 Collins Street turned an aging
landmark into a modern icon, and at the same time increased
productivity and decreased the sick leave taken by building
occupants. 500 Collins Street was 30 years old when it began a
progressive Green Star renovation in 2006 by the Kador Group.
The 28-level multi-tenanted building in Melbourne’s CBD achieved
a 5 Star Green Star – Office Design v2 rating for the design of its
staged refurbishment. Pre- and post-occupancy surveys revealed
that the refurbished office delivered a:
• 39% reduction in average sick leave days per employee per
month
• 44% reduction in the monthly average cost of sick leave
• 9% increase in the typing speed of secretaries
• 7% increase in lawyers’ billing ratio, despite a 12% decline in
the average monthly hours worked.

500 Collins Street - 5 Star Green Star - Office Design v1

A range of international reports has also found green schools and
hospitals deliver better health and learning outcomes for students
and teachers, as well as faster recovery rates and lower staff
turnover in healthcare settings. Thinking green in industrial facilities
can also lead to a reduced rate of accidents and lost time due
to injury.
Australia’s first Green Star-rated healthcare facility, the Flinders
Medical Centre New South Wing in Adelaide, houses women’s
health services and has been designed to deliver high quality
patient care with a minimal environmental footprint. According
to the Redevelopment Project Manager, Frank Zotti: ”we’ve
delivered 271 more babies in the new unit in 2011, a ten per cent
increase on previous years.” The numbers are positive proof of the
community’s support for hospitals that provide high-quality care
for patients and the environment.

20

Green Star – Performance Business Case

Employee recruitment and
retention
Attracting and retaining talented employees is
vital to any business’ success – and a Green Starrated building is a valuable employee benefit.
Findings from a 2008 Deloitte survey of organisations
that had undergone at least one green building retrofit
in the US found that 93 per cent of respondents found
it easier to attract talent after their renovation, with 81
per cent reporting greater employee retention. Every
company surveyed reported an increase in goodwill
and brand equity.
Colliers International Office Tenant Survey 2010 found
that excellent indoor air quality and thermal comfort
was second only to proximity to public transport (and
above cutting edge IT and communications) in the top
three office attributes for staff attraction and retention.20
The report, Sustainable Healthcare Architecture,
argues that there is a “consistent, positive correlation
between green building, staff recruitment, retention and
performance” in healthcare settings.
Green schools also experience reductions in teacher
turnover. Greening America’s Schools: Costs and
Benefits estimated that teacher retention in green
schools translates into financial savings of about
US $4 per square foot over a 20 year period.

It costs an estimated 150 per cent of annual salary
to lose a good employee, and most organisations
experience 10 to 20 per cent turnover per year,
often including people they didn’t want to lose.21 In a
workforce of 200 people, turnover at that level would
mean a loss of 20 to 40 people per year. What if a green
building could reduce turnover by five per cent? The
value of that alone could be as much as $300,000 –
more than enough to justify the out-of-pocket costs of
certifying a building.
Operating from a high-performance green building may
help attract and keep good people – whether that’s
nurses and doctors, teachers, librarians, industrial
workers or office employees. The issue of recruitment
and retention is now emerging as a rationale for many
large companies to consider greening all of their
existing buildings. This rationale may be even stronger
for recruiting and retaining the younger generation
of employees, who tend to be passionate about
environmental issues.22
The staff at Queensland Government’s Environment
Protection Agency in Toowoomba are enjoying working
in a 4 Star Green Star – Office Interiors v1.1 rated
office. “We are noticing increased interest from people
seeking to work for an environmentally-aware employer.
It’s generally a tight labour market out there, so if
being proactive... can help us be seen as an employer
of choice, it will enhance our prospects of attracting
and retaining suitably qualified employees that share
our values,” says Executive Director of Corporate
Sustainability, Terry Harper.

Wangaratta High School - 4 Star Green Star - Education PILOT

Public relations and marketing
Many organisations, governments, universities
and non-profit organisations now seek to
maximise their ‘brand equity’ and increasingly
rely on marketing and public relations activities
to accomplish this goal. Operating from certified
Green Star buildings can contribute to meeting
these objectives.
The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre was
awarded a 6 Star Green Star rating for its innovative
environmental design in 2008, under the Green Star
- Convention Centre PILOT rating tool. Setting a new
global standard for convention centre design, the
MCEC project team’s innovation and ingenuity has
been acknowledged with dozens of awards, including
the 2010 Victorian Architecture Medal, the prestigious
Banksia Foundation Built Environment Award 2009,
as well as recognition by the Design Institute
of Australia for its contribution to Victoria’s next
generation of public buildings.

The Bond University Mirvac School of Sustainable
Development in Queensland, which operates from the
first 6 Star Green Star – Education facility in Australia,
has identified a number of significant benefits of its
green credentials, including attracting international
students and developing research partnerships
with other prestigious universities around the world.
These benefits, alongside the environmental ones,
have resulted in a sustainable financial return on their
investment.

Michael Lane, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability
DEXUS Property Group

Consumer demand
Today's consumers want to know that the
corporations they do business with operate in an
environmentally friendly manner - and they are
rewarding sustainability with their wallets.
One US survey for Retail Customer Experience found
that 46 per cent of consumers would shop at a retailer
more if it was environmentally friendly, while 47 per cent
say they would pay more for environmentally friendly
services, products or brands.
HomeHQ North Shore is Australia’s first 4 Star Green
Star-rated bulky goods centre, achieving a 4 Star Green
Star – Retail Design v1 rating in 2009. A high standard
of energy efficiency for the building is achieved through
green features including an energy-efficient plant and
machinery and the use of building materials that reduce
the need for artificial heating and cooling by up to 60
per cent. HomeHQ says that’s good news not only for
the environment, but for retailers and customers too,
with the cost savings to retailers able to be passed on
to consumers.

Corporate social responsibility
It is no longer enough to be a good employer;
companies need to be good neighbours in the
larger community as well. Developers, large
corporations, local government and building
owners have long recognised the marketing
and public relations benefits of a demonstrated
concern for the environment. Green Star buildings
fit perfectly with this message.
Increasingly, people around the world perceive green
buildings as modern, ethical and proactive – and
companies, governments and community organisations
associated with green buildings benefit from these
perceptions through community pride, satisfaction and
well-being.

Home HQ North Shore - 4 Star Green Star - Retail Centre Design v1

24

Green Star – Performance Business Case

Summary
The motivation for green buildings does not
end with purely financial benefits. It extends to
many other tangible and intangible benefits,
including productivity and health gains, public
relations, employee retention and building
a reputation as a sustainable organisation.
Legislation such as commercial building
disclosure, coupled with the introduction
of carbon reporting requirements will also
drive the business case for energy efficiency
upgrades by owners and operators of large
buildings. Assessing your building with the
Green Star – Performance rating tool will help
you capitalise on these benefits and ‘future
proof’ your investment.

Green Star – Performance
rating tool overview
Introduction
This overview has been designed to help property
owners and managers understand the major
elements of the Green Star – Performance rating
tool. In this section, you’ll gain some insight into
how Green Star – Performance tackles individual
issues within its environmental categories, and
how holistic performance may be addressed once
the rating tool is complete.
While Green Star – Performance will be consistent
with all other Green Star rating tools, as it will provide
an holistic assessment of buildings against the nine
environmental impact categories, Green Star –
Performance will focus on building operations and
ongoing performance, not only on specific design
features and attributes. This makes Green Star –
Performance ideal for owners and management teams
who can use the rating tool to measure their buildings’
operational performance and implement incremental
improvements over time.
Green Star – Performance ratings will be available for
certification from 1 to 6 stars. Ratings will be valid for
three years, with interim reporting requirements at the
end of the first and second years to allow the rating to
remain current. Re-certification may be sought at the
end of the third year.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Existing buildings represent the
single biggest opportunity to
reduce the environmental impact
from the built environment. The link
between commissioning, tuning,
operations and management has
been somewhat missing from the
discussion. This performance tool
is a real opportunity to bring those
influences together.â&#x20AC;?
Darrel Williams, Director, Norman Disney Young

161 Castlereagh St, Sydney - 6 Star Green Star - Office Design v2

Management
Management and operation are instrumental to
building performance. Establishing appropriate
policies, procedures and targets support high
levels of operational performance, and allow
operations teams to understand their buildings
and plan for future upgrades.
Green Star – Performance recognises the importance
of these factors in its ‘Management’ category, which will
address a number of initiatives, including:
• ongoing tuning of building systems and processes
• monitoring and metering strategies for energy and
water
• commissioning and recommissioning (depending on
the age of the building)
• accurate, current building information, including
building user guides, operations and maintenance
manuals and occupant/tenant guides
• policies and procedures relating to waste
minimisation from interior refurbishments
• procurement of materials
• building cleaning and maintenance.
Owners and managers of multi-tenanted buildings may
find it difficult to aim for a ‘World Leadership’ rating,
the highest possible level in Green Star – Performance,
without gaining buy-in from building occupants. Green
Star – Performance recognises this. Incentives such
as green lease arrangements or joint environmental
targets between building owners and tenants can
encourage engagement, and will be rewarded within the
Management category.

28

Green Star – Performance Business Case

“The Green Star rating tools have had a
profound impact in setting benchmarks
for the sustainability of new buildings.
The new Green Star – Performance
tool will complement the current suite
of Green Star tools and allow building
owners to monitor and improve the
ongoing performance of their existing
premises.”
Stefan Preuss, Manager Buildings, Sustainability Victoria

Indoor Environment
Quality (IEQ)
The quality of the indoor environment within
our buildings is an integral part of holistic
building performance. A truly high-performing
property must have management and monitoring
procedures in place that address all aspects of
indoor environment quality, as well as all other
factors related to green building operations.
However, it is generally true that the indoor
environment factors are not valued to the same
extent as energy and water efficiency.
Green Star – Performance aims to address these issues
in its ‘IEQ’ category by taking a ‘modular approach’
to the ongoing management of indoor environment
performance in buildings.
For example, in mechanically ventilated buildings, one
basic way of providing improved indoor air quality
can be to keep air ducts and filters clean and free of
pollutants, as part of a best practice maintenance
regimen. This will ensure greater amount of fresh air is
delivered into the building on an ongoing basis. More
advanced measures may be taken such as periodic air
sampling to gauge carbon dioxide levels in occupied
spaces.
An incremental approach to indoor environment
factors allows building owners and operators to tackle
issues that are most suited to their own objectives and
operational budgets for each of the many aspects of
IEQ.
Indoor air quality is obviously only one of many aspects
of IEQ addressed by Green Star – Performance. Other
factors include:
• indoor temperature and relative air humidity
• natural and artificial lighting levels
• noise comfort levels.
Green Star – Performance also encourages building
owners and operators to establish occupant feedback
collection systems, to gather indoor comfort information
and identify appropriate corrective actions.

Energy
When greening building operations, energy
efficiency is often the first area addressed. Green
Star – Performance focuses on two main issues in
the ‘Energy’ category: peak electricity demand and
the greenhouse gas emissions associated with
energy consumption.
Within Green Star – Performance, a baseline for peak
electricity demand reduction is set based on historical
data from the building’s annual peak loads, as well as
information about the peak electricity demand for the
electricity network. Reductions to load on the network
are encouraged and rewarded.
A building’s greenhouse gas emissions performance is
also assessed against a baseline, from which building
owners and operators can set targets for improvement
over time.

Working together,
improving together
We’ve worked closely with industry to identify ‘best practice’ benchmarks
for each Green Star – Performance credit, and map out a range of ways
for building owners and managers to demonstrate how their building is
performing in relation to these standards.
Some types of buildings are subject to mandatory measurement and
assessment requirements for aspects of their operation, like the amount of
energy or water they regularly use. For example, organisations that sell or
lease commercial office spaces of 2000 square metres or more are required
by law to have a current Building Energy Efficiency Certificate (BEEC).
Where such measurement and assessment schemes are recognised and
accepted by industry as representing ‘best practice’, teams will be able to
use the certificates or documentation that they already have to demonstrate
that their building operates in accordance with Green Star – Performance
credit benchmarks. Technical guidance will be provided within the rating tool
to help ensure building owners and managers are demonstrating compliance
in the simplest, easiest way, without unnecessary duplication of their efforts
or documentation.
Where best practice certification or assessment schemes for individual
aspects of building management do not exist, or are not yet considered to be
‘best industry practice’ – such as in the case of waste management - teams
will be given guidance on how to establish ‘best practice’ benchmarks for
comparison.
Green Star is a learning process and we’re always open to new ways of
thinking, so where teams think of alternative ways of demonstrating that
their building meets the aim of a credit, they can also submit a Credit
Interpretation Request (CIR) to have their method recognised in
Green Star – Performance.

Transport
Single-occupant vehicle use for commuting
represents a large environmental impact
associated with transport and the built
environment. Although buildings themselves are
not directly responsible for traffic, they influence
commuting habits based on their location and on
the transport-related services offered.
Green Star – Performance recognises these issues
and encourages the provision, maintenance and
communication of alternative transportation initiatives in
its ‘Transport’ category. Building owners and operators
may address this category in a number of ways,
including:
• providing and maintaining cycling facilities
• facilitating the purchase of public transport tickets
• providing shuttle buses to transport hubs.
Ongoing performance of these initiatives may be
measured by surveying building occupants about
their commuting patterns using a questionnaire and
then comparing these results to Australian Bureau of
Statistics (ABS) figures for transport mode use for the
Local Government Area (LGA) in which the building is
located.
This approach takes into account the fact that in
regional locations, for example, the vast majority of
people arrive and depart by single-occupant cars and
may not have access to public transport. Therefore if the
ABS figures indicate that 100 per cent of people arrive
at a particular LGA by car, any improvement on this
average will be rewarded by Green Star – Performance.
Improvement could be achieved by building owner
initiatives, such as incentives for car pooling and the
provision of shuttle buses.

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Green Star – Performance Business Case

Water
Relatively low water utility rates and the
perceived abundance of water in urban areas
have traditionally made water conservation and
efficiency seem less important than energy issues.
Although water restrictions have been imposed in
some areas of Australia in times of drought, by and
large, water saving practices are less commonly
employed. For this reason, programs that combine
the use of water-efficient technologies with
effective system operations and educational
resources will provide the greatest benefits.
The primary focus of the ‘Water’ category in Green
Star – Performance is the reduction of potable water
use in building operations. In addition to addressing
potable water that is typically metered by the local utility
company, Green Star – Performance also addresses
water use associated with the testing of fire safety
systems.
As with the Energy category, a building’s potable water
use is assessed against a baseline from which building
owners and operators can set targets for improvements
over time.

Materials
The ‘Materials’ category in Green Star –
Performance focuses on materials that go into or come out of - a building during the operational
phase of its lifecycle. These are the materials
that are required for building operations, not the
materials from which the building is constructed.
Areas such as sustainable procurement and
purchasing (materials in) and waste (materials out)
will be addressed by the Materials category.
Materials generated by building occupants during
operations, such as recyclable and non-recyclable
plastic, glass, paper, cardboard and food waste are
covered by Green Star – Performance in waste from
building operations.
Construction waste from building maintenance, minor
repairs and interior fitout churn may also be addressed
by a building owner using Green Star – Performance,
where waste from building alterations is concerned.

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Green Star – Performance Business Case

Land Use
and Ecology
Green Star – Performance aims to address
the ongoing impact of buildings on their
immediate ecosystem with its ‘Land Use and
Ecology’ category, by discouraging degradation
and encouraging the restoration of natural
environments whenever possible.
This particular category focuses on issues relating to the
ecological value of a site, its management and potential
improvements. The relationship between permeable
landscaped areas and impermeable surfaces, and
how this affects the ecological value of a site, are also
explored in this category.

Emissions
The ‘Emissions’ category focuses on ‘point
source pollution’ from buildings and building
services to the atmosphere, watercourses and
local ecosystems. ‘Point source pollution’ is
contamination that affects the natural environment
through any discernible, confined and discrete
conveyance, such as a pipe, a duct or a floodlight.
Green Star – Performance recognises these
environmental impacts by addressing operational issues
related to heating, ventilation and air conditioning such
as Legionella control and refrigerant management. Other
sources of pollution from buildings include, for instance,
external lighting that may seep into the night sky, and
untreated runoff from stormwater, which may pollute
adjacent waterways.
As with all other Green Star categories, the ‘Emissions’
category in Green Star – Performance aims to reward
performance and operational practices that go beyond
legislative requirements.

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Green Star – Performance Business Case

Innovation
It has been said that innovation is what drives
progress through the creation of better and
more effective products, processes, services,
technologies and ideas. It is through creative
ideas, and the pioneering application of these
ideas, that the built environment will progress to
more sustainable and greener outcomes.
This category relates to innovative technologies or
processes in building operations, improvements on
Green Star benchmarks, exceeding the scope of Green
Star, or taking on what will be known as ‘Green Star
Challenges’. These challenges will be designed to
encourage building owners and operators to go beyond
best practice and develop more stringent environmental
requirements for the continuous improvement of Green
Star – Performance.

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Green Star – Performance Business Case

Conclusion
Collaboration with industry has been vital in the
development of Green Star – Performance. The
Technical Working Group (TWG), which includes
more than 30 people from GBCA member companies,
has worked with us to develop credit criteria and
requirements for the rating tool.
‘Beta testing’ of Green Star – Performance draft
credits has been undertaken to enable industry to
provide further feedback on the content of the rating
tool, while ensuring we understand the amount of
information required to validate the credit claims
made by applicants throughout the rating tool’s pilot
phase and beyond.
In a first for the Green Star rating system, Green
Star – Performance will be delivered via an online
platform, which will help to ensure that the rating tool
is efficient and cost-effective to use.
The GBCA would like to thank all of the sponsors,
contributors and supporters of Green Star –
Performance, and encourage all of Australia’s
green building leaders to get behind our nation’s
first ever comprehensive and holistic rating tool for
sustainable building operations.